This paper questions the dominant attention economy and media abundance framework in media studies by questioning the mediated politics of ‘media scarce’ communities and individuals. Focusing on the armed wing of the African National Congress (MK), the paper questions how media scarcity affects a group’s ability to engage in public campaigns, given their lack of historical media documentation. The paper analyzes how the MK developed various media tactics to overcome their lack of media documentation, both during the fight against the Apartheid state and in present day campaigns for military veterans’ rights.
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